On December 4, 2009, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo officially placed Maguindanao Province under martial law by Proclamation No. 1959, suspending the privilege of habeas corpus. [94] Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said this measure was taken to prevent the escalation of “lawless” violence in the province and pave the way for the swift arrest of the suspects in the massacre. [95] [96] Following the statement, authorities searched a warehouse belonging to Andal Ampatuan Jr. [97] The raid resulted in the seizure of more than 330,000 rounds of NATO ammunition of 5.56 ×45 mm, a Humvee and an improvised armoured vehicle. Twenty militiamen were arrested at the scene. Captain James Nicolas of the Special Forces was able to recover more powerful firearms and ammunition after the incident. [98] Martial law in Maguindanao was lifted on December 13, 2009. The civilian government and civilian judicial authorities continue to work on all matters that are appropriate to their attributes and that do not concern public order, and the latter case to everything that the military allows or delegates to them, and require each to give to the other all the messages of which they become aware For the aforementioned reasons, This representation expresses its support for the extension of martial law throughout Mindanao for the recommended period, and we applaud President Duterte for his willingness and determination to bring lasting peace and prosperity to Mindanao. It should be noted that during the rights of the last decades before the civil war, unrest often erupted. And the government of the day was able to quell these riots, establish law and order, and ensure that life went on as usual or almost usual by imposing martial law. Martial law, which was accompanied by widespread control over state resources, led the Philippines to use it to strengthen its infrastructure and develop a robust economic model. In a speech to the Senate, Benigno Aquino, Jr.
warned the public against the possible establishment of a “garrison state” by President Ferdinand Marcos. President Marcos imposed martial law on the nation from 1972 to 1981 to quell growing civil wars and the threat of a communist takeover after a series of bombings in Manila. [49] [untrusted source?] [50] Aquino himself had contacts with the leaders of the Communist Party of the Philippines – first with founder Jose Maria Sison and later with Rodolfo Salas, the cpp chairman at the height of martial law. In an interview with Lisandro Claudio, a professor at Ateneo De Manila University, Salas said he not only brought wounded New People`s Army (NPA) soldiers to Aquino`s home, but also received weapons and money from Aquino himself. In another Sept. 21 notice to the State Department, the U.S. Embassy sheds additional light on what Ninoy told U.S. officials.
On September 12, Ninoy had a “long lunchtime conversation” with two embassy officials about the “growing strength of communist dissent in the Philippines.” At that lunch, the senator “readily admitted his previous ties to the various communist factions in the Philippines.” He claimed that maintaining ties with Huk rebels was a “reality of life” for a Tarlac politician. [51] [52] In the 1978 Philippine legislative elections, the first parliamentary elections during martial law, Ninoy ran in his Lakas ng Bayan Alex Boncayao party, which was associated with the Alex Boncayao Brigade of the Philippine Communist Death Squad. [53] [54] All 21 party candidates, including Ninoy, lost in the election. In addition to the continued increase in militarization despite the alleged end of martial law,[73] the Mission has reported significant extrajudicial executions and enforced disappearances of various persons arrested or captured by military or state security forces. This practice has been called “rescue” to refer to summary executions and extrajudicial executions of individuals last seen with state agents and found dead a few days later. In the first 9 months of 1983 alone, prisoners had reported at least 191 rescue cases to the Philippine Task Force, a number that may have been vastly underestimated and underestimated due to the lack of trained and volunteer documentary filmmakers during the period. [74] Arrests and detentions were also widespread, often due to dissent from government policies, which were seen as evidence of rebellion, subversion, and association with the New People`s Army. [75] Those arrested and detained included church workers, human rights activists, legal aid lawyers, union leaders, and journalists.
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